#advancedwitch

You may want to cast a circle for a number of reasons, but I mainly think of casting a circle as temporary! You may want to do this to protect yourself and your space while you are doing spell-work, while you’re focusing on yourself (ex: grounding, meditation, etc), divination, the list is endless. While you CAN cast a circle whenever you feel the need, you don’t NEED to cast a circle in order to do something ie: cast a spell, commune with your deities, etc. 

How To Prepare 

There are many ways to cast a circle, so take this with a grain of salt. Witchcraft is all up to interpretation.  

Find the area that you want to cast your circle 

CLEAN 

Both physically and metaphysically...you want your space clean. If you need help thinking about how to spiritually clean your space, head on over to my cleansing post

Set Up

Get everything you are gonna want after you cast your circle, and put it in the center of the “circle”

You don’t wanna leave the circle after you cast it so make sure to grab any supplies for spells, divination, etc- just whatever you plan on doing while you have your circle cast 

Now it’s time to actually cast the circle! There are many ways to do this, so I’m gonna outline a few. 

The Elements 

You can cast a circle by invoking the elements and placing them at the four cardinal directions (Earth = North, Air = East, Fire = South, Water = West)

For fire 🔥: You can use whatever candles you would like, or electric candles if live in a dorm/can’t have an open flame (if you’re casting this circle outside, PLEASE be aware of any burn bans in your area!). If you’re doing a spell, you can even choose a candle with a certain color correspondence to the spell you’re doing! 

For water 💧: I recommend using some sort of charged water, ie: sun or moon water. I’ve seen some people using diluted essential oils with correlation to whatever they are doing in the circle, so you can be creative with it! 

For earth 🌎: You can use quite literally anything that represents the earth here. Crystals, salt, dirt, herbs, anything. 

For air 💨: Incense or steam work well. I live in a dorm so I can’t use incense (I also hate the scent so I never use it) SO what I do to get around that is just using my essential oil diffuser...it’s not exactly steam but it gets the job done. 

You will be placing these items with intent at their specific spots, and basically that’s all there is to it when casting a circle with the elements

To actually finish creating your circle, start in the East (by your air representation) and walk clockwise completely around the circle. You can do this a few times (don’t get dizzy lol) until you can “envision” a circle 

When you’re done and ready to break your circle, do the same as above but walk counterclockwise the same number of times you walked around the circle to create it

Salt

Another method to cast a circle is by using good-old fashioned salt :) 

Use salt (or something similar, eggshells, herbs, etc) to create a circle, clockwise. When you are creating this physical circle, imagine the metaphysical properties of the circle (protection, safety, etc) 

When you’re done, break the circle physically, and then clean and dispose of your salt 

Use A Cord

Similar to the salt method, you can use a cord/rope/string or something similar to create a large circle, and give it a good knot tying the two ends together. Whenever you do this, be sure to envision the circle protecting you and serving its intended purpose. 

DO A COMBO

Similar to both methods above, you can also just make a circle out of whatever floats your boat. Rocks, leaves, branches, dirt, WHATEVER as long as it’s practical, safe, and you are putting intention behind your casting. 

I usually do this (i like the rocks) and then I invoke the elements by putting their item of representation in their respective places and INVOKING THEM 

“I call upon the elements of the East, guardians of the wind, protect this circle! I call upon the elements of the South, guardians of fire, protect this circle! I call upon the elements of the West, guardians of water, protect this circle! I call upon the elements of the North, guardians of the earth, protect this circle!” 

Doesn't have to be that exact phrasing but something along those lines

I then like to walk around the circle and be like “yo, the circle is created” 

If you’re invoking guardians/elements/etc, be sure to thank them for their protection while you are breaking your circle. 

After I break the circle i am like “yo, the circle is broken” and then go about my merry day. 

I hope this helped you get a grasp on casting a circle! Again, there are many ways to do this so be sure to check out these other resources to see what fits your practice best! 

Simple Circle Casting

Advanced Circle Casting 

Circle Casting 101